Upper



.different sections of said floor.

UNTTED 'STATES' PATENT oEErcE.

PETER KEPHART, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

UPPER ELooE 0E ICE-HOUSES.

Specicaton of Letters Patent No. 5,798, dated September 26, 1848.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER KEPHART, of the city of Baltimore, in theState of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for thePreservation of Ice; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull and exact descriptionl thereof.

It is a fact well known, that ice when deposited in an ice house suffersa heavy amount of loss by melting, and that the larger proportion ofthis loss occurs on the upper surface of the ice, which is moreimmediately acted upon by the -heated atmosphere of spring and summer;thereby creating a damp and unhealthy condition of the apartment.

The apparatus which I have ,constructed is designed to prevent, to agreat extent, this waste of ice, and atthe same time, shutting off thedampness and unhealthiness existing in ordinary ice houses.

I effect the desired purpose by placing the ice to be preserved in asquare or otherwise shaped building constructed of brick, wood, orboardings containing bad conducting substances' of heat as sawdust,charcoal, &c., and placing over the top surface of said ice a sectional,sinking, non-conducting floor, resting or lying upon the ice and sinkingwith the same as the melting or consumption progresses. This floor is soconstructed, as to admit of access to any point on the surface of theice by lifting up any of the It is also so constructed as to allow ofits being removed from the ice house when it may be ldesired to refillthe house.

In the accom-panying drawing, Figure l, is a top View of the structurebefore named, the roof being removed from the ice house. Fig. 2, is avertical section through t-he middle of the house and of the compartmentfor containing the ice.

In Figs. l and 2, a, a, a, a are th walls or sides of the ice house,construe ed of brick, stone, wood or any bad conductor of heat.

O, in Fig. 2, is the bottom floor upon which the ice is placed, thisbottom floor is of boards beneath which is sawdust or tan bark.

In Fig. l, B, B, B, B, is the sectional, sinking, nonconducting floor;this floor is placed upon the surface of the ice, `and designed to sinkwith the ice. This floor is composed of sections, or shallow boxescontaining ,y or being filled with dry sawdust, tan bark or any badconductor of heat, and so .arranged as fits closely together, thusshutting off from the ice the heat and atmosphere;,these sections areconstructed of suitable dimensions, so as to admit of an individualthrowing up or lifting up any of them when ever access to the ice may berequired, as is shown at H in Fig. l.

When it is desired to fill the house with ice this sectional or boxfloor admits of being removed from the house, and replaced when filled.

In Fig. 2, H represents the ice as placed in the house, with thesinking, sectional, box floor B, B, B resting or placed thereon.

Having thus fully described the nature of my apparatus for thepreservation of ice, and shown the operationsthereof, what I claimtherein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi The soconstructing of said apparatus in the manner herein described, as thatthe ice shall be so protected by the sinking, sectional nonconductingfloor B, B, B, as to arrest, in a great measure, the large amount ofwaste produced by the warmth of spring and summer; the said arrangementalso preserving a dry, pleasant atmospherein thehouse, and at the sametime affording easy access when ice may be required; the respectiveparts being combined, arrangedand y operating substantially as hereinset forth.

In testimony whereof, kI the saidl PETER KEPHAET, hereto subscribe myname inthe presence of the witnesses whose names are hereto subscribedon the thirty first day of August in the year one thousand eight hun-Ldred .and `forty seven. y

PETER KEPHART. f

Witnesses:

` JACOB HYLAND,

WILLIAM O. WELSH.

